Social Media Exposure and Linguistic Competence of Students of Sultan Kudarat State University

Linguistic competence is a foundational concept in linguistics that refers to an individual's implicit knowledge of a language's vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, and pronunciation, enabling them to comprehend and produce language effectively within a given linguistic community. The study aimed to assess the correlation between students' social media exposure and their linguistic competence, serving as a baseline for an intervention plan integrating linguistic activities through social media. The respondents were Bachelor of Secondary Education major in English students from Sultan Kudarat State University across all academic levels. Using a descriptive correlational design and Pearson Correlation Coefficient, the study found a significant relationship between students' social media exposure and linguistic competence, suggesting that frequent social media engagement influences linguistic skills. These findings underscore the importance of incorporating digital contexts into language learning and advocate for support from university administrators and curriculum implementers to enhance students' linguistic competence through social media-integrated interventions.